At Odds
by Aarri
Summary: The assistants of Balmung and Kamui have been known never to get along. Are they doomed to be at odds forever? Takes place after the incidents of .hack/Legend of the Twilight. Reki/Magi. On hiatus until further notice, possibly discontinued.


**A/N: **Hi there! It's been quite some time since I actually completed a fanfic (w I'm sorry, I'm sorry!). So here you are; probably something I normally wouldn't write for (.hack in general), but nevertheless I had fun writing this. Enjoy! (And beware…they're both slightly OCish. I couldn't help it, I swear! Forgive me, great .hack creators, for mutilating them both so pitifully!) And yes, this was supposed to be a oneshot…well, not quite. I fail at limiting content. w"

Note: Magi's PC (player character) is male, but she is, in fact, a woman in the real world, so I'm referring to her with feminine pronouns. Kay?

And Reki – that should be easy to figure out.

"Jerk! Take that back!"

"I will not. Not until you admit that Balmung could beat Kamui by a landslide."

"That would never happen! My mistress is the cleverest, the most powerful –"

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the 'subordinate act', will you, Magi? We've got work to do."

"You started it, if I recall correctly," Magi muttered, and looked away. How she _hated_ to be working with Reki. The conversation between them that had just lapsed into uneasy silence proved as much.

It wasn't really him that she couldn't stand, but his desire to do everything perfectly, just as how Balmung said he should. And his self-confidence! If you listened to Reki, you would think that he didn't do anything wrong at all, that everything was just perfect. All it was with him anyway was 'Balmung this, Balmung that,' and it was driving her up the wall!

"Magi!"

The wavemaster winced. So like Reki to jerk her out of her thoughts, and so rudely, too. With a sigh, she turned to face him, glaring at the other over the top of her (virtual) glasses.

"What is it now, Reki? If, again, my memory doesn't fail me, we're supposed to be de-bugging, not standing around chatting idly." She frowned at him, and tucked her book under her arm smartly. The latter looked a bit taken aback, but said coolly, "I thought you'd find this interesting. I just received a mail from Balmung about a bug that's been reported frequently over the past few weeks. You should be getting one from Kamui now, so I'll let you read it yourself."

And it looked as if he were telling the truth, for Magi looked up and sure enough, a mail had appeared over her PC's head. Quickly opening it, she read:

Sender: Kamui

Subject: An Assignment

Magi,

I know working with Balmung's lackey can be a real pain. Do bear with him for a while longer, however, for Balmung and I have an assignment for the two of you. Earlier this morning, while running scans of the towns, I encountered what looked to be a suspicious character near Mac Anu. Whether it's a hacker or vagrant AI, of that I am not certain, but it would do you well to keep an eye out, as this person looks to be the cause of the recent and troublesome bugs with the shop system. Balmung and I are attempting to follow up on this person, whether they be a PC or an NPC, (though however I'm supposed to get anything done working with him I have no idea) but if we should require assistance, you're the first person I'll be in touch with. Keep alert, and standby for my next mail.

-Kamui

Letting out a long breath, Magi's eyes darkened. Great, just great. Could today get any worse? Here she was paired with Balmung's little follower, and all of a sudden they both get some long-winded assignment from not one, but both of their bosses. Just what she needed – more work. Quite irritable, she turned to Reki.

"Well? So where are se supposed to start looking for this creep – whoever he or she may be?" She asked irritably, blinking somewhat owlishly behind her spectacles. Despite her temper, and the wrath that he would no doubt face later on, Reki bit back a laugh at her expression. Still chuckling to himself, the other wavemaster answered, "Judging by the contents of Balmung's letter, I'd say we should start in Mac Anu – of course, we're already here. So, I think it's best just to keep our eyes open for anyone or anything that looks out of place, right?"

Nodding curtly and not bothering to contradict him for once, Magi followed Reki as they poked about the town, checking in all of the more-crowded places first. After a few hours of wandering aimlessly, and finally ending up where they had started in the town square, Magi slumped against the large and rather elaborate fountain in the middle, leaning her head back against the cold, gritty stone. Through half-lidded eyes, she watched Reki thumb through his book, then snap it shut with a loud _thud_ and meander over to the portal.

"And where do you think you're going?" The female wavemaster asked, her gaze icy as it bore into the other.

"I was about to have some lunch. Even we, the debug team, can't live without food forever, y'know. Or at least, I can't, though I don't know about you," Reki said, his eyes still bright despite the long hours of wild goose-chasing about Mac Anu.

"You think just because – oh, forget it," Magi muttered, giving him a scathing glance. "Fine. We'll break for lunch. But we're getting straight back to work afterward, you –" but she never finished, as the object of her torment had already logged out. With another, heavier sigh, she got up and followed Reki back to the confines of the CC Corporation office.

Asako Saito tugged off her headset, laying it gently on the edge of her desk. Trying to put some order into her appearance, as she had been sitting there for a while, the assistant to the leader of the Cobalt Knights got up from her slightly-comfortable office chair and headed for the door. At almost the same moment, Saki Shibayama, also known as Magi's mistress and Kamui, leader of the Cobalt Knights ripped off her own headset from her position at the desk next to Asako's, and threw it down on her desk in apparent disgust.

"That imbecile! He can't even assist me with the simple task of debugging, let alone tracking down a highly suspicious character. Why me!" Shibayama clutched at her head for a few moments, before straightening up and somewhat regaining her composure. Asako was a bit afraid to move, afraid of the absurd idea that she might be mistaken for Balmung and pinned against the wall. After a minute or two of silence, however, she stepped forward.

"Er…Shibayama-sama, I was about to…to go get some lunch," she said quietly. It was only then that the leader of the Cobalt Knights looked up, finally noticing the other's presence. Asako, still a bit wary, continued, "I was just…wondering if you'd like something? I mean, so you wouldn't have to get it, and..." Asako trailed off, noticing that her mistress was watching her.

"…Thank you, Asako. That would be…nice," Saki stated, clearing her throat slightly, and turned back to her computer screen, tugging her headset into place once more as she logged into The World. With a slight smile, Asako Saito crept quietly across the room, and shut the door gently on her way out.

The hallways of the CC Corp building were unusually quiet for a weekday, thought Asako as she wandered to the lunchroom. Now that she was on her lunch hour, the thought of going back to work seemed dismal indeed, at least until she had eaten something. Wrapped in her own thoughts, Asako Saito didn't even realize she was at the cafeteria until she had passed by the doorway, and bumped into someone. Looking up, she saw –

"Oh. Asako, it's you," Satoshi Fujio commented, from behind a large stack of paperwork. Flushing slightly, the young woman watched him carefully for a few moments, wishing that _Reki_ wouldn't call her by such a familiar term.

"Yes, Fujio-san," she said, narrowing her eyes and bowing. "I'm sorry I ran into you; please excuse me, as I am required to get lunch for Shibayama-sama and myself." She wanted to get away from Satoshi as soon as possible, so as to preserve what little dignity she had left. Now she wished that she had actually stayed up in her office and tried to figure out a bit more of the enigma of a case that Kamui had entrusted her with rather than come down to get lunch. Besides which, she had lost her appetite – running into Satoshi had a habit of doing that to her. Not that she would admit that she had, in fact, run into him before, because she hadn't. Right?

"Oh, you're going to get lunch? Do you mind if I join you? I was just about to get something for myself, actually, as Balmung already ate," Fujio said, smiling slightly. Asako noted that it was the second time that day that he had interrupted her thinking, which was beginning to get a bit annoying.

For what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, she sighed, but merely said, "All right, Fujio-san. But I'm not going to stay and eat – need I remind you that we've got important work to do, and we can't afford to sit around when we should really be logged into The World de-bugging, you know."

Satoshi Fujio grinned. "Right. But relax a bit, Asako. Besides, the person we're supposed to be looking for hasn't proven themselves to be a real threat yet, and we haven't even picked up on any suspicious leads yet. So can't we just sit and eat lunch?" His inquiry was returned with a rather peevish look.

"I'm sorry, Fujio-san, but I really do have to get back to work." Asako turned toward the lunchroom, and after Satoshi was out of sight, she leaned back against the doorframe. Her heart felt as if it were going thud out of her chest, and she put her hand up to feel its pounding pulse. Her face felt warm too, and all of a sudden she had the absurd thought that she might be sick. But, with what? Or…with whom?


End file.
